LEGISLATION WATCH- Local Administration Act stalled — again: House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal postponed yesterday discussions of the Local Administration Act after the majority bloc in the House rejected the draft as it stood, according to Al Masry Al Youm. Yesterday’s plenary session saw a heated debate over the long-stalled bill, with the Support Egypt coalition (parliament’s majority bloc) and Mostakbal Watan Party, among others, refusing to discuss the bill in its current form, although it remains unclear what the sticking points are. Meanwhile, independent MPs tried to push the bill, which they say is a constitutional right, to see the light of day.

Background: The act aims to decentralize local councils and organize district elections, since government-appointed officials have been running local affairs since a court dissolved municipal councils in 2011. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had suggested back in September that local elections could have happened by the end of 2019, saying that he expected the House to vote on the act in October.